Chapter 4

I wasn't let out of the room until the day of the anniversary.

I was taken to the cemetery under heavy guard.

One minute before my phone was confiscated, I received a message from Rocco.

"My men are in position. When the time comes, they'll pay off the checkpoint lookouts along the route and clear all patrols. The plan won't fail. Stay safe."

I felt the faint press of the miniature communicator hidden on my body and made sure everything was in order on my end.

At the graveside, I was forced down onto one knee.

Vincenzo read my alleged crimes aloud, over and over.

I stared at the headstone.

I remembered Dario bringing me here years ago.

Back then, it wasn't Camilla we had come to visit. It was Dario's parents.

He had held my hand tightly and introduced me to them.

He told them I was the only woman he would ever claim as his own.

But now, because of another woman's lies, I was being subjected to the worst humiliation, bearing the blame for crimes that were never mine.

On the way back, I checked the time on the dashboard and decided the moment had come.

"Camilla's death wasn't my fault."

My voice was flat.

My words broke the silence in the car.

I had hit a nerve. Dario lunged forward and clamped his hand around my throat.

"Say that again."

I fought for breath and repeated myself despite his fury.

Ever since Camilla died, Dario had been extremely sensitive about the subject.

I had tried to explain the truth to him multiple times.

But in his eyes, I was just trying to dodge responsibility, and he saw it as disrespecting the dead.

He would lock me in an isolated room for three days and three nights with no food or water.

After that, I didn't dare bring it up again.

But right now, I needed to use that against him to carry out my plan.

"Camilla's death wasn't my fault. The mistake during that deal wasn't mine. It was Lily's."

Lily's face went white. She grabbed Dario's arm in a panic.

"Dario, it wasn't me! She's trying to pin her crimes on me.

"Lucia, how could you lie like this? I protected you back then. How could you turn on me?"

A hoarse laugh escaped my throat, my eyes red and brimming.

"You didn't protect anyone. You did it on purpose.

"You knew they were loose cannons. You deliberately crossed their line and provoked them into attacking. You wanted me dead so you could marry the Don yourself. You just didn't expect me to survive."

Lily lunged at me, tearing at my hair.

"Shut up! Liar!"

Dario released me and pulled Lily into his arms.

"Lucia, you've gone too far. How could you say something like that today of all days?

"You're still making excuses. Do you really think I won't kill you?"

He reached into the back seat, pulled out a gun, and aimed it at my head.

I smiled.

"Today is Camilla's anniversary. You can't pull that trigger."

Dario's hand trembled with fury.

He hurled the gun into the back seat and ordered the driver to stop.

I was dragged out and shoved into the last car in the convoy. Two guards stood on either side.

"Take her to the west villa. Lock every door and window. She doesn't come out without my orders."

"Yes, Don."

Dario watched as Lucia was taken away. He decided to lock her up for a few extra days this time, to teach her a lesson she wouldn't forget.

Early the next morning, Vincenzo came rushing to Dario in a panic.

His face was ashen, his words careful.

"Don, your wife... she passed away last night."